The NIGHT'S WATCH COFFEE TODDY Cocktail

"I AM THE SWORD IN THE DARKNESS."
Well, Game of Throne fans, here we are. Winter Has Come to the lands of Ice and Fire, the White Walkers have breached the wall separating them from The Seven Kingdoms, they're adding to their Wights numbers with each human kill, and the Night Watch is dismally undermanned, unprepared and - for the moment - minus Jon Snow. The Crows are kinda screwed and so might we all be ... at least at the beginning of season six.
The Long Winter has come! What shall we do?
Have a few cocktails, of course! Let's make 'em hot coffee toddys!
THE NIGHT'S WATCH COFFEE TODDY
INGREDIENTS: 1-1/2 Oz Diplomatico Rum 1 Oz. Coffee Liqueur (I used Caffè Borghetti) 1/4 Oz Grand Marnier 2-1/2 Oz Hot Coffee
Garnish: Foamed Milk, 2 Dashes The Bitter Truth Xocolatl Mole Bitters, Orange Twist, Chocolate Coconut "Dragonglass" Flakes
Tools: Channel Knife, Cocktail Shaker, Blender
Glass: Valerian Steel Cup (oh, okay, it's a Julep cup, who the heck can get real Valerian steel these days?) or Glass Mug
DIRECTIONS: Pour the rum, coffee liqueur and Grand Marnier into your drinking vessels then add the hot coffee. Foam some milk by whipping on high until the volume doubles then heating in the microwave for 1 minute. Spoon this onto the top of your toddy then add a few dashes of the bitters, the Dragonglass chips (Alright, already! The chocolate covered coconut flakes! Sheesh, a little suspension of disbelieve here?) Drape the orange twist on the drinking vessel and serve.

This should put some warmth back into your bones and keep you awake to watch out for that nasty old Great Other worshipping Night's King.

"Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come." ~ The Night's Watch Oath
"But you'd better have a hot toddy ready for me when I come in from the cold." Night's Watch Oath Addendum
My Other Game of Throne Cocktails
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A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT COCKTAIL

To Drink or Not To Drink, THAT Is The Question!
Back in Shakespeare's day, the Elizabethan period, most people drank ale or wine all day long. Why? Because the water was not safe to drink. Fermentation kills bacteria , thus, if you wanted to live to see one of Shakespeare's plays you didn't drink the non-potable water, you drank booze. The most popular wine of the era was a spiced, fermented honey wine called mead. Often fruits were added to the fermentation process as well.
You can make your own mead or be lazy like me and buy some. It's not really that hard to find as mead has made a comeback in today's cocktail world.  I bought mine online, Chaucers Mead, at BevMo.
"Come, gentlemen, I hope we shall drink down all unkindness." ~ William Shakespeare, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Act I, Scene I
A MIDSUMMER NIGHT'S COCKTAIL
INGREDIENTS: 3 Oz. Mead Slash of Soda 1/2 Oz Fresh Lemon Juice 1/2 Oz Fresh Orange Juice 1 Teaspoon Honey Ridge Farms Honey Créme Spiced 1 Teaspoon Hot Water Cup of Crushed Ice
Garnish: Fresh Raspberries, Orange Wheel, Lemon Slice
Tools: Bar spoon
Glass: Old Fashioned
DIRECTIONS: Thin the spiced honey with the hot water. Fill your glass to the top with crushed ice. Pour in the mead, lemon and orange juices, give the cocktail a quick stir then top off with the soda. Pile on the fresh raspberries, add the lemon and orange garnishes to the rim then drizzle the honey over the raspberries and serve.
"Met we on hill, in dale, forest, or mead. By pavèd fountain, or by rushy brook. Or in the beachèd margent of the sea. To dance our ringlets to the whistling wind." ~ William Shakespeare, A Midsummer's Night Dream

Updated 4-2017

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CHERRY CHEESECAKE MARTINI COCKTAIL

What's a piece of cheesecake without some cherries on top? If you're going to go for cheesecake go for broke and add those cherries.

If you really want to go for broke make this Cherry Cheesecake Cocktail instead and drink your dessert!

The CHERRY CHEESECAKE MARTINI
INGREDIENTS: 1 Oz Cherry Vodka 1 Oz Cake Vodka 1 Oz Cherry Juice 1/4 Oz Lemon Juice 1 Oz Heavy Cream
Garnish: Honey Sweetened Whipped Cream Cheese, Red Sprinkles, Homemade Maraschino Cherry
Tools: Baggie, Small plate, Cocktail shaker
DIRECTIONS: Put some of the whipped cream cheese in the baggie near one corner. Twist the baggie, pushing the cream cheese towards the corner then clip a small hole in that corner to create a piping bag. Pour the red sprinkles onto a small plate. Pipe the cream cheese on the rim of your glass then dip into the red cake sprinkles (jimmies). Chill the glass in the freezer. Add the ingredients to a cocktail shaker filled with ice and shake until chilled. Strain the cocktail into your chilled glass, garnish with the cherry and serve.
National Cherry Cheesecake Day is April 23rd.
VOICEOVER VIDEO WITH INGREDIENTS AND DIRECTIONS FOR THE CHERRY CHEESECAKE MARTINI:

Updated 4-2021 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

COLORING & COCKTAILING LIFE HAPPY with The Martini Diva Interview

Love Coloring? As the author of the popular coloring book, "COLOR YOUR COCKTAIL - An Adult Coloring Book with Cocktail Recipes", I was recently interviewed by Tami Patzer on being a coloring book author and illustrator and what it takes to produce and publish coloring books as well as my thoughts on why coloring is so trendy with adults these days.
If you're into coloring for fun or for the health benefits or would like to publish a coloring book too, give my interview a listen:

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ANIMAL CRACKERS In My BOOZE!

   Today happened to be National Animal Crackers Day and I happened to have some animal crackers, so, hey, I had to do it.
Only instead of making it taste like animal crackers I decided to make it a cocktail I could dunk my animal crackers in ... then I added ice cream and it turned into a boozy sundae ... I'm nothing if not flexible, especially when it comes to animal crackers.
ANIMAL CRACKERS IN MY BOOZE (Monkeys and Rabbits get real looped ...)
INGREDIENTS: 2 Oz Coffee Liqueur (I used Caffè Borghetti) 1/2 Oz Bourbon 1 Oz. Half & Half 2 Dashes Scrappy's Chocolate Bitters Ice
Garnish: 1 Scoop Vanilla Bean Ice Cream, A few Animal Crackers, 2 Dashes Scrappy's Coffee Bitters
Tools: Cocktail Shaker, Ice Cream Scoop
Glass: Large Coupe
DIRECTIONS: Add the ingredients to an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake until chilled. Add one large scoop of the ice cream, tap the coffee bitters on top then stick the animal crackers in the ice cream. Serve with a spoon.

Beware of cats ...

Updated 4-2018 PLEASE DRINK RESPONSIBLY

LOST MAI TAI TIKI DRINK COCKTAIL

I got my hands - finally - on an edible orchid so I just had to do a Tiki Drink, right? Based on the classic Tiki cocktail, the Mai Tai, I've again played with the rules - a lot - and had a little fun with a classic. Mostly because I was out of Orange Curacao and only had the Blue variety on hand and, dammit, I wanted to use that orchid before it died!

So, in the true spirit of Mai Tai, which supposedly got it's name when a patron declared “Maita'i roa a'e” ("very good" in Tahitian), here's a Tiki drink that will knock your tie off.
The
LOST MAI TAI
Tiki Cocktail
(As in, "I lost my tie after drinking too many of these.")
INGREDIENTS:
1 Oz. Bacardi Silver
1 Oz. Bacardi Gold
1 Oz. Sailor Jerry Spiced Rum
1 Oz. Fresh Lime Juice
2 Oz. Fresh Pineapple Juice
1/2 Oz Bols Blue Curacao
1/2 Oz. Orgeat Syrup
1 Tablespoon Cream of Coconut
Ice
GARNISH: 1 Edible Orchid, Cocktail Umbrella, Parrot Swizzle Stick
TOOLS:  Cocktail Shaker
GLASS: Fun Tiki Glass or whatever.
DIRECTIONS:
Add the ingredients to a blender and give them all a nice whirl until they're all blended together and slushy.
Pour into your chilled glass, garnish and serve.
Take your tie off before drinking and put it somewhere safe. Or not. 
Oh, and lock the cat out ...

Just in case you're not in the mood for a smart alec-y cocktail and want to try the original Mai Tai, here's the original Royal Hawaiian Hotel recipe.

Updated 6-2018

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The BLUSHING ROSE Champagne Cocktail Recipe

  I was asked to do a signature cocktail recipe for a wedding last Spring. Now that the wedding has transpired, the couple are safely back from their honeymoon and are nearing the end of their first year together, they have kindly given me permission to share the recipe.   The bride had chosen soft coral pink, pale peach and a soft cream as her signature colors, the groom and his posse were decked out in light beige/tan tuxedos. The flowers were coral and peach hibiscus and cinnamon roses. They both wanted a Champagne cocktail as their signature drink as well as a recipe that could also be converted to a non-alcoholic beverage. Those were my inspirational jumping off points and here is the cocktail:  
The
BLUSHING ROSE
CHAMPAGNE COCKTAIL
(Makes 2 Cocktails)
INGREDIENTS:
1/2 Oz. Rum 1 Tsp. Honey Ridge Farms Blood Orange Honey Syrup
5 Drops Wild Hibiscus All Natural Rose and Hibiscus Cocktail Concentrate
Chilled Dry Champagne

Garnish: Luxardo, Maraschino Cherries, Scrappy's Seville Orange Bitters

Glass: Flute

Tools: Cocktail shaker

DIRECTIONS:
Chill flute.
Add a teaspoon of hot water to a teaspoon of the Honey Creme Blood Orange then heat in the microwave for 10 seconds. Allow this to cool.
Add the rum and the cooled blood orange honey syrup to an ice filled cocktail shaker and shake until chilled. Place the cherry in the flute.
Strain the rum and honey over the cherry, gently top off with the Champagne, add the Hibiscus and Rose drops and allow them to settle on the bottom. Tap a dash of the orange bitters on top and serve.   If you want you can add an edible rose garnish or one of Wild Hibiscus Company's Wild Hibiscus Flowers in Syrup.

HOW TO BATCH FOR A WEDDING Simply calculate a minimum of 2 drinks per guest* and multiply the ingredients for that number. Create a base by making the Blood Orange Honey Syrup then adding it to the Wild Hibiscus Concentrate to create a syrup then set the mixture aside in sealed pitchers in the refrigerator or cooler at the bar. Chill the Champagne and line up the rum bottles and multiple cocktail shakers in a handy place for the bartender to grab. Get enough of the Luxardo Cherries for all the drinks and keep these in a covered bowl at the bar, plus a few extra because, trust me, people will sneak over and grab a few to munch when your bartender isn't looking.   Your bartender can then easily dispatch multiple cocktails by simply pouring in the rum, adding the Champagne then topping off with the honey and rose hibiscus syrup.   If you want to offer an non-alcoholic version, choose a different glass (so there are no chances of a teetotaler getting booze). I would suggest a Collins glass to make it a cooler style cocktail, triple the syrup, then simply leave out the rum and replace the Champagne with soda water    *Leftovers, if there are any, are not a problem. The Champagne and rum, of course, can be reincorporated into your home bar, any left over hibiscus, rose, honey syrup can be used to make a delicious sorbet and, nope, there won't be any leftover Luxardo Cherries, trust me.
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